Only trust can integrate Kashmir with rest of India: NCP leader

Pointing out that "building trust" among people of Jammu and Kashmir was the only way to "integrate" the bordering state with the rest of India, D.P. Tripathi of the NCP said on Wednesday that an all-party meeting should be arranged to discuss and resolve the problem of unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

Participating in a debate on the unrest in the valley, which was triggered by the killing of Hizb ul Mujaheedin commander Burhan Wani on July 8, Tripathi said only building trust among the people of Kashmir will improve the overall situation there.

"What is so wrong in calling an all-party meeting over Kashmir and sending a delegation there," the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government.

Extending support to the Union government in resolving the matter, Tripathi said that the people of Kashmir working or studying in other parts of the country must be given "due respect" as it would help in building the trust.

He also cautioned the Narendra Modi government against preparing a list of Kashmiri students to single them out.

"The government must take note of this," he said, adding that students from Kashmir must not be seen with suspicion.

He also urged the central government to extend full support to the Jammu and Kashmir government in dealing with the situation in the state.

--IANS

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